Vocabulary is an indispensable part of language and it is of vital importance for second language learners. Wilkins (1972) points out: "without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed." Vocabulary teaching has experienced several stages characterized by grammatical-translation method, audio-lingual…

We report on a study of first-exposure learners with different first languages (L1s: English, Japanese) to examine their ability to process input for form and meaning. We used a rich set of tasks to tap respectively into processing, comprehension, imitation, and working memory. We show that there are advantages to having a first language (L1) that…

A role is proposed for the lexicon in the grammatical consciousness-raising (GCR) framework for second language teaching outlined by W. Rutherford and M. Sharwood Smith (1987, 1988). First, a lexical framework that offers a series of questions to help teachers discover the relevant semantic and pragmatic information associated with grammatical…

Describes an alternate lexico-semantic view of native language acquisition and adult second language learning that proposes that humans acquire and learn words, names, titles, expressions, sayings, and formulas as undifferentiated lexical items first and then develop systems to store and retrieve the lexemes and combine them into phrases and…

Analysis of form-oriented and content-oriented lexical errors made by advanced German learners of English covers: theoretical aspects of form-orientation; a taxonomy of form-oriented approximations; content-oriented approximations; traditional concepts (of semantic organization); empirical evidence; and strategies for second language learning. (CB)

Examines features of the negotiation of meaning between learners and teachers of English-as-a-Second-Language, and distinguishes between the declarative knowledge that words have particular meanings and the procedures typically employed for realizing this declarative knowledge. Negotiation exercises based on a checklist of the dimensions of…

What is notably missing in the teaching of foreign language vocabulary is a systematically elaborated strategy for vocabulary acquisition that is based on the findings of linguistics and learning psychology. The practical implications of such a double anchorage in linguistics and psychology are outlined in a proposed model of a semantization…

The proceedings include the following papers: "Why We Study Child Language"; "Children's Use of Information in Word Learning"; "An Examination of the Initial Mapping of Verb Meanings"; "Evidence for the VP Constituent from Child Korean"; "The Role of Stress, Position, and Intonation in the…

Certain proposed theories on second language acquisition, their justifications, and their predictions about English are examined in this paper. The first section discusses the process of second language acquisition; the stages and strategies learners use and progress through on their way to mastery are described. The second section discusses the…